Ah, bug bites. They are part of life in Africa and should be expected when traveling there. I expected them and I got my fair share. In fact I can still count about 28 scars where I had gotten bit. The truth is, most of the bug bites were like every other one I had ever gotten, a red bump forms, it itches like crazy, then a few days later is gone. This was the case, except for a couple on my ankle. These started normally, then turned into rather large red rashes, which then formed into fairly good sized oozing blisters.
Seriously, how gross is that?!?
So there I was in rural Africa with that on my ankle. To top it off I was allergic to all medicine within a few hours of my village. I found that out the hard way. Anyway, with no medicine and only basic first aid materials, my only option was to pray for God to heal my ankle and do whatever I could to keep it clean. In the days and weeks to follow, the blistering mess that was my ankle, turned into an open wound, then scabbed (or as they say in Africa, "dried up"). I figured that God had healed my ankle and He did. It didn't hurt or itch and was simply a nice scar. It never prevented me from teaching or spending time at the Children's Home.
The doctors back home put me on a mild antibiotic when I got back to be safe. Then a month or so later I started not to feel well. I went to a different doctor who had several concerns, ordered a MRI and found out the infection had settled in my tendons. I mean seriously, who has to get a MRI because of a bug bite and how do you explain that to the radiologist... The infection worked itself out and now I'm working on restrengthening my ankle.
Anyway, even with all this, I would still go back to Sierra Leone and am praying God sends me again. When serving God, he doesn't necessarily protect you from harm. Our safety is not His greatest concern, nor should it be ours. His greatest concern is that people know His love for them and that His name be glorified. Therefore, our greatest concern should match. We should be so caught up in the love of God and His love for people, that we are willing to risk everything so that others can know that kind of love.
